‘What If…?’ S3 Episode 6 “What If… 1872?” Review

For the sixth episode of What If…? season 3, Marvel Animation brings audiences a journey into the Wild Wild West. The episode, titled “What If… 1872?”, strikes a unique premise led by Phase 4 characters Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) and Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) that follows the characters journey through the Wild Wild West in the year 1872 to thwart the villainous Hood. 

I’ve never been one to particularly love Westerns. Sure, there are some fantastic films such as The Good, The Bad & The Ugly, The Magnificent Seven, 3:10 To Yuma, and the Coen’s True Grit (which also starred Steinfeld), but the genre has never captivated me like many other genres do. What If…? might have done the worst possible thing in combining the show, which many already find bad (including myself), and the genre. Surprisingly though,  the episode is bearable. 

The concept does feel cheap, coming off as a formulaic cash grab, coming off the viral success of “What If… 1602?”, another period piece episode from the show’s second season. Here though, they play into the abilities of one specific actor, who is often typecast in Western-type roles; Walton Goggins (Fallout, Django Unchained). Goggins is great here as an antagonist, playing well into his type cast even if the character, Sonny Burch, is ultimately nothing like his MCU-616 counterpart. 

Simu Liu does, however, come off flat in his performance as Shang-Chi, not giving much vocal range for his performance. Hailee Steinfeld does her best to lift up the void he creates though, with Kate Bishop being an interesting character that serves as one of the highlights of the episode. An interesting development in Marvel lore in this episode though, was the introduction of a new Iron Fist (or the first, if you don’t consider Netflix’s Iron Fist series canon), Kwai Jun-Fan, a young boy that Bishop and Shang-Chi rescue. The story itself is kind of generic, playing into tropes found in the Western genre, as well as the What If…? show, but ultimately delivers an interesting time. 

Another aspect of this episode that failed me as an audience member was how blandly written John Walker was written. John Walker is by far and away one of my favourite characters introduced through Phases 4 and 5, but here the character lacks charm or even a distinctive look, looking nothing like his MCU counterpart due to how poorly the animation is animated. It’s baffling that through the show’s entire three season run, spanning four years, Marvel Studios/Animation took none of the criticism from critics and audience members to heart, with the animation actually getting consistently worse across the show’s release. 

“What If… 1872?” struggles the most with performances, with many cast members failing to leave a strong impression on me. The animation in the show continues to decline, looking uglier the more the show plays with different eras, looking its best in a standardized MCU setting. 

“What If… 1872?” starred Jeffrey Wright as The Watcher, Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop/Hawkeye,  Wyatt Russell as John Walker / U.S. Agent, Allen Deng as Kwai Jun-Fan, Meng’er Zhang as Xu Xialing / The Hood, Walton Goggins as Sonny Burch, and Jason Isaacs as the Eminence. The episode is now streaming on Disney+. The series’ seventh episode, “What If… the Watcher Disappeared?”, hits Disney+ tomorrow at 12AM PST with episodes following daily at the same time, through December 29th. 

Thanks for reading this review of “What If… 1872?” Stay tuned here at Feature First, for our coverage for the rest of What If…?’s final season.